Intrepidity in the Face of Misfortune
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iṭukkaṇ varuṅkā ṉakuka vataṉai / yaṭuttūrva taḵtoppa til.
When adversity comes in the course of an undertaking, meet it with inward confidence rather than collapse; nothing equals that composure in pressing the adversity back.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“Smile, with patient, hopeful heart, in troublous hour; / Meet and so vanquish grief; nothing hath equal power.”
“When thou meetest with misfortune face it with thy best smile: for there is nothing like a smile to enable a man to hold his own against it.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
இடுக்கண் வருங்கால் நகுக= ஒருவன் வினையான் தனக்கு இடுக்கண் வருமிடத்து அதற்கு அழியாது உள்மகிழ்க; அதனை அடுத்து ஊர்வது அஃது ஒப்பது இல்= அவ் இடுக்கணை மேன்மேல் அடரவல்லது அம்மகிழ்ச்சி போல்வது பிறிது இல்லையாகலான்.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar explains that when adversity arises during an undertaking, a person should not be inwardly broken but should retain confident inward gladness. That gladness presses the adversity harder and reduces its power; nothing else equals it in doing so.